Dutch Treat
Brian Parker long suspected the rundown Albany building with its leaky roof and bountiful
supply of rusty restaurant equipment was a treasure. So, he took a chance and bought
it.
It was a good gamble. Tests have indicated that the former Saul Equipment Co. at
48 Hudson Ave. "or at least part of it"is the oldest standing house in Albany, dating
to circa 1728. Until now, the Quackenbush House, built in the 1730s, was regarded
as the city's oldest surviving structure.
Parker of Slingerlands purchased the lower Hudson Avenue property early this year
through his building restoration company, Orion LLC, and moved fast to protect it
from further decline by repairing roofs and stabilizing the structure.
This is the latest in a long line of historic restoration projects Parker has spearheaded
since buying his first Albany brownstone on North Pearl Street at a tax auction in
1984 for $4,000. "I bought it and didn't know a thing about what I was doing and found
out the hard way." Parker said. "It's a lot of work." Even so, he found satisfaction
in taking a dilapidated structure that no one else wanted and turning it back into
something of value.
When he was an undergraduate at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs studying art
and business, Parker never imagined that he'd gravitate toward this line of work.
However, it's possible that the inspiration for his career can be traced to his boyhood.
"When I was a kid growing up in the '70s, I watched (New York state archaeologist)
Paul Huey dig Fort Orange up," he said. He now believes that was a pivotal experience
that sparked what has become a lifelong interest in history and old houses, especially
the Capital Region's early Dutch buildings.
After 48 Hudson was secured, Parker, along with the Historic Albany Foundation, worked
quickly to have the building recognized both nationally and locally. The building
was unanimously recommended for local landmark status by the city's Historic Resources
Commission. (It's slated to go before the city's Common Council on Monday for final
approval.)
"It's a wonderful project," said Norman Rice, the chairman of the city's Historic
Resources Commission. "I know Brian Parker is going to do a superb job."
The New York state Board for Historic Preservation has also recommended 48 Hudson
for nomination to the state and national registers of historic places.
Center site
The building sits within an area selected for a planned $200 million downtown convention
center, which is also expected to include a hotel and parking garage. However, Parker
believes that his Dutch house will not be threatened by that project.
"Nobody wants to hurt this building," Parker said. "We've gotten the word that we're
protected."
Gavin Donohue, the vice chair of the Albany Convention Center Authority, confirmed
that there were no plans to demolish 48 Hudson to make way for the convention center.
"I think one of the goals of the convention center, one of the objectives of I think
George (Leveille, the Convention Center Authority chairman) and the rest of us is
that we want to transform Albany and have economic development projects that still
maintain the historic character of Albany," Donohue said. "We are obviously concerned
and interested in doing the right thing, when it comes to historical preservation
issues."
The authority will be preparing an environmental impact study in coming months that
will address historic resources in the area, including 48 Hudson.
Clues to the past
In the meantime, Parker is moving forward with his plans for painstakingly restoring
the structure. In the process of cleaning out the building, he uncovered more clues
to the building's Dutch past than he ever expected. The secrets lie largely in the
wood.
Parker commissioned a dendochronology analysis by the Lamont Doherty Earth Sciences
lab at Columbia University, in which researchers study tree rings in wood used in
construction to determine the age of a house. The core samples taken throughout 48
Hudson consistently date the house to 1728.
"This is huge," said Erin Tobin Bearden, director of Preservation Services at Historic
Albany. "The evidence is pretty conclusive."
Until now, the Quackenbush House had been considered Albany's oldest standing building.
It was built in about 1736, according to the book "Albany Architecture." The sign
on the front of the house dates it to circa 1730.
Parker's building had been considered Albany's second oldest structure until the
dendochronology results came back this spring. "I think it's a reminder of what we
had. It provides us with the opportunity to save what was here," Bearden said. "This
building is important architecturally and historically."
Link to past
According to Bearden and Parker, the site could play a role in resurrecting that section
of the city as the convention center plans are made.
"Forty-eight Hudson could be a great draw for people going out to see what Albany's
all about," Bearden said.
While there were many changes made to 48 Hudson over the years -- including a large
addition in the 1830s - the original Dutch house is surprisingly intact inside the
front portion of the structure.
"In effect, the oldest part became encapsulated in the later construction," said
John R. Stevens, author of "Dutch Vernacular Architecture in North America, 1640-1830."
The original roof is visible within the structure, but the pitch changed when the
house was widened and raised in height to a full two stories.
For some time, the house had been known as the Johannes Radliff House. Recent research
by local historian John Wolcott indicated that the house was in fact built by a Johannes
van Ostrande, who leased it to Radliff in 1759, the date the structure originally
was thought to have been built.
The building later housed the factory of Jared Holt, who manufactured waxed thread
used in leather goods. Most recently, it was occupied by the Saul Equipment Co., a
restaurant equipment dealer, but has been vacant for several years. The faded lettering
from that company still decorates the facade.
"I'd say it's a very significant building," said Stevens, an architectural historian
and restoration consultant. "That it managed to survive at all is something of a miracle."
A singular clue
At first glance, 48 Hudson doesn't seem to add up to much. It sits next to the vacant
Albany Rescue Mission. Both buildings are surrounded by a parking garage and a sea
of parking lots.
But Parker spotted a singular clue when he peeled off some siding from the front
of 48 Hudson that gave him insight into the building's age: a molded anchor beam.
It cuts across the front of the house, an element that Parker recognized from another
building he owns and is restoring, the Pieter Winne house in Selkirk, which dates
to 1723. In the Hudson Avenue house's beam, there are slots that most likely held
leaded windows, which is also indicative of early Dutch buildings.
Other clues that gave insight were evidence of three jambless fireplaces, which do
not have the traditional "jambs" or brick walls that encase a fire. The van Ostrande
house had one on its side wall, a rare discovery, and one underneath it in the basement,
as well as a fireplace in the original rear room. Other details include "noggin" (unfired
mud bricks) used for insulation, rough-sawn weatherboards and shards of pottery found
within the walls.
"The building had always interested me," Parker said. "It was far more intact than
anyone thought." (Before he purchased it, he knew it was purported to be the second
oldest in the city and he had a feeling that it might be similar to the Winne house.)
Finding a use
On a recent visit to 48 Hudson, Parker pointed out where the older part of the house
ended and the section built in the 19th century for a factory began. A stray cat dashed
out from a corner and down the stairs during the tour.
Parker said he had to take truckloads of debris "rusting restaurant equipment and
sodden chairs"from the building. What remains is the structure's shell. It has been
swept clean and trimmed of layers of drop ceilings and wall board.
Parker plans to restore the front section of the building to return it to its colonial-era
form, but the overall use for the property hasn't been decided. "All houses have to
find a use, or they're just doomed," he said.
There are now a lot of possibilities for the building. Its large open space "due
to the more recent additions" could accommodate any number of businesses, said Bill
Brandow, a board member of Historic Albany and a project architect with John G. Waite
Associates, an architectural firm that specializes in the restoration of historic
buildings.
Brandow was instrumental in raising awareness about the building's importance.
"The extreme rarity of the building trumps any problems with the north facade," said
Brandow, who joked that the 48 Hudson isn't competing to be on a National Register
of "good-looking" buildings.
Donna Liquori is a freelance writer from Delmar and a regular contributor to the Times Union.
©2006 the Sunday Times Union
